In many situations landscaping and/or construction materials may need to be dyed so as to impart a desired color to the material. By way of example, bark and/or wood mulch and/or concrete may need to be dyed so as to impart a desired color to the material and thereby render the material more pleasing in an architectural setting.
A number of different pigments are known in the art for mixing with landscaping and/or construction materials so as to impart the desired color to those construction materials. By way of example, iron oxides are capable of providing different colors commonly of interest (e.g., Red Fe2O3, Yellow Fe2O3OH2O, Black Fe3O4), and have the additional advantage that they may be effectively dispersed throughout the landscaping and/or construction material with the presence of ordinary water.
Unfortunately, however, iron oxide pigments generally come in the form of a fine powder which creates a number of problems during use. For one thing, pigment dust tends to migrate, soiling human beings, equipment and the surrounding premises. In addition, when the pigment powder is stored for any length of time, it tends to clump together into masses which are no longer freely flowable, thus complicating mixing of the pigment powder with the landscaping and/or construction materials which are to be dyed.